Romanian pleads guilty to using ‘card skimmer’ at local ATMs
A Romanian citizen arrested last fall for stealing money from ATM machines in Washington County pleaded guilty to conspiracy and bank fraud charges in federal court Monday.
Elvis E. Roman, 33, pleaded guilty to bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady.
Judge Nora Barry Fischer scheduled Roman’s sentencing for 9 a.m. Oct. 3. Roman faces a maximum sentence of 32 years in prison, $1 million fine or both.
Roman originally was arrested and charged by South Strabane Township police in October. Cecil Township and Peters Township police also charged Roman.
Utilizing a skimming device, Roman made unauthorized transactions from Washington Financial bank branches and CFS Bank.
“As part of the scheme, participants installed ATM skimming devices designed to fraudulently obtain the account information associated with cards inserted into the targeted ATM mchines.
Using that account information, participants created cloned ATM cards and fraudulently withdrew funds from ATM machines maintained by banks in Washington County,” states a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.